In the Shadow of Ants

When
a building is invaded with ants, a lot of work becomes necessary, with
dedication to get the job done. When the larger world is invaded with
insanity, a lot of work of a different type becomes likewise necessary, with
great dedication to get the job done. Also, sometimes the greater supersedes
the lesser until the supercritical is dealt with. It even happens occasionally
that one becomes involved with a greater task, without even knowing why.
This seeming paradox comes to light in the dialog. The dialog occurs in the
final chapter of the novel, The Flat Earth Society, by Rolf Witzsche.

The story in
the dialog combines the political dimension with the spiritual. It is staged
in the context of the four attempted nuclear attacks against Iran in the
2006 and 2007 timeframe that were all courageously prevented by individuals
who put their career and even their life on the line to block a catastrophe
that society had failed to take the responsibility to prevent, and continues
to fail to do so to the present day. Still, what is right has the
potential to happen. The truth is knowable. The truth is
real. It is worth a celebration.

Transcript

"The hymns that I was reciting on the beach the last time we met, were hymns from Mary's church," said Ross when we met again on the beach months later.

"I am not a churchgoer, nevertheless I found those hymns uplifting as poems," I said to Ross.

"In this case it may interest you to note a fact of history," said Ross. "The amazing fact is that the period in which Mary's pioneering work unfolded, coincides almost exactly with the only major period of renaissance the USA has had. This period was also the only major period of general peace and humanity in the world at large, with a few minor exceptions. She made her breakthrough discovery in 1866. Of course there was a lot of work leading up to it. The amazing thing is that in this period leading up to 1866 the world changed dramatically. The Opium Wars in China ended. The Spanish Inquisition was shut down that had been killing and burning people for almost 400 years. The czar of Russia offered the Russian navy to Lincoln in order to prevent the British Empire from entering the American Civil War. The Civil War was won in 1865. Slavery was abolished. Something happened around the world in defense of humanity. It was as if the train of horrors in the world had suddenly stopped, or at least had come to a crawl. And then in 1866 Mary made her own breakthrough in discovering, of what she termed the 'the divine Principle of scientific mental healing.' She worked for 44 years on documenting, practicing, teaching, and advancing her discoveries. People were healed all over the USA and in other parts of the world of all sorts of diseases and ailments and problems, by applying her scientific mental healing method. Then after she died at the end of 1910 the train of horrors started to roll again. The Titanic was sunk; the Federal Reserve was established that gave America's currency to the empire; the income tax was initiated; World War I was started; the empire's Communism was foisted onto Russia; Germany was crushed and settled with unpayable war reparation; Hitler was financed to power; the holocaust was started; World War II was started. The train of horrors started after her death and never stopped running since. Now things have gotten so bad that we are facing the potential collapse of civilization, and this at a time when the next ice age cycle is on the near horizon. And so, as a person with a scientific mind, I am asking myself what it was that caused her period to be so radically different from the period before and after her time. Was her work the cause of it? Can the discovery of a profound universal principle and its application have such a powerful effect that it uplifts the whole world?"

"This makes her the most powerful leader in the entire history of mankind," I said to Ross. "I said something similar to Steve, before he left for China, or maybe Steve said it. We realized that political power isn't defined in how low people have to bow in fear before a leader, or in begging for concessions, but that real political power is defined in the power of a leader to inspire and facilitate physical and cultural advances in society's living, and thereby advance its productive and creative power."

"We don't know if Mary's work was the key factor for the great period of peace and renaissance in the world," said Ross. "We don't have empirical proof of whether it was, or wasn't, her work that was reflected in what had uplifted the world in that amazing period of prosperity. No one can tell with certainty what the world would have been like if things hadn't happened, that have happened."

"Does this really matter?" I said to Ross. "What matters is what you are doing, and I am doing. Suppose that there was a one-in-a-million chance that the kind of scientific spiritual work that Mary did, had this powerful effect in uplifting mankind into the sphere of peace that history seems to indicate it might have had, shouldn't we then explore this path? Shouldn't we make every effort then to discover and promote what she had discovered and promoted, even for this one-in-a-million chance that there is power in the process? If that stakes are so high, as they are today, that the life of billions hangs in the balance, then the slimmest chance to find a solution and the greatest efforts are justified. What I see happening in the world today suggests to me that the odds are much better than a one-in-a-million chance. After all, a person who can heal a cancer with a scientific shift in perception has something going for it, that's worth noting. Now if this happens all over the world, as it did, and the cases become too many to be written down, and with that continued year after year, with some of these cases still happening even now, a century later, what she discovered seems worth noting indeed."

"Is this important?" said Ross. "If the power of a principle is illustrated once, it is illustrated. The door is open. Nothing is added by illustrating it a million times more."

"So, what are you saying?" I said to Ross.

"I am saying that we have a chance here to do something powerful for the advance of civilization," said Ross. "We already know more about her work than 99.9999% of mankind do. "I think we should explore what she had set up for future ages, try to understand it, and write a book about it, and share it with the world. And the book must be published free, not for profit. We should do this, Peter."

"Me? I can't..."

"You are a person with a scientific mind," Ross cut me off. "You can do this."

"I'm not a publisher..."

"Then be one," said Ross. "In fact I can guarantee you, that when the discovery work is progressing to the point that it is worthy to be shared, you will take whatever steps will be needed to make the sharing happen."

I shook my head.

Ross just laughed. "Have I challenged you too much?" he said and began to grin.

"Challenge accepted," I said and begin to grin too.

"You won't regret it," said Ross.

Well, I did take up the challenge. A lot of work was suddenly involved, weeks turning into months, and the months into a year. At times the work became interrupted. So I tried harder. Then the next challenge was added, carpenter ants in the roof. I finished in time just as the whether got better so that I could start on the roof. The original roof, that had been laid in tar and gravel, had been re-roofed before. The gravel had been scraped off, the roof covered with half an inch insulation, topped with a torch-on membrane that should have lasted for ages. But it didn't last. One of the curses of a low-sloped roof. Water collected underneath, condensation perhaps. The whole thing became a mess. I had to rip it all off, replace some rotted boards, put a proper vapor barrier down, place rafters on top with insulation batting in-between, build a venting system, cover it all with new plywood, new rain barriers, and new low-slope shingles. What a job.

There wasn't a roofing contractor around that could handle the complex job. Several contractors would have had to be hired, and the cost became unthinkable. Besides, everybody was busy. Most roofers were booked up till far into the fall. The options all seemed to narrow down to only one single option, to do the work myself. So there I stood with 10,000 pounds of materials sitting on the ground that had to be hoisted two stories up. Fortunately the boss loved the idea of me staying home for a few months. He needed to have somebody on the rock with Ross going away for training on the new coastal surveillance equipment that was supposed to be ten times better than the current one that had failed miserably during the cruise missile attack.